Sustainable Energy
Renewable Energy
Renewable energy is derived from sources that are regenerative or for all practical purposes are inexhaustible. This includes solar, wind, wave, biomass, tidal and geothermal sources. Renewable energy can be subdivided into what is know as 'deep green' sources, which essentially covers energy from primary natural resources, and 'pale green' sources which covers anthropogenic renewable sources such as energy generated from waste and landfill gas.
Renewable energy can provide electricity, space and water heating and fuels for transport covering the same mix as fossil fuel and nuclear power generated energy.
The UK faces two major challenges in terms of energy supply and usage Renewable energy has a major role to play in achieving this and the UK is committed to meeting up to 15% of its total energy needs through renewables, our share of the EU's overall 20% target by 2020). At present renewables only contribute approximately 1.5% of the UK's total energy demand and we remain a long way behind most other European nations. Renewable energy can be deployed on a large scale such as on and off shore wind farms, tidal barrages, biomass power stations, solar farms and hydro electric dams. (Follow the links for an example of each). It can also be deployed as micro generation technologies at a small scale including installations on renewable technologies on public buildings and individual houses. Energy Solutions works with local authorities, schools, hospitals and community centres and individual home owners to access and facilitate the installation of appropriate renewable energy schemes.
Low Carbon Energy
In addition to renewable energy there are a limited number of technologies that use conventional fossil fuels but are considered sustainable because they use energy efficiently. Coal and gas fired power stations that generate electricity only convert about 30% of the useable energy into electricity the rest is produced as heat. In the majority of power stations this heat is a waste product. This is because it is very difficult and costly to store and transport so it is normally released into the atmosphere as waste heat or cooling water.
Combined heat and power generation (CHP) is a method of energy generation that utilises both the electricity and heat produced. By utilising the heat produced CHP systems can achieve efficiencies of up to 85% making them a very efficient source of power generation. In order to make use of the heat produced CHP systems have to be located close to a location that has significant heat demand. In this way the heat can be efficiently transported over short distances for use as space and water heating.
CHP systems can range in size being as large as conventional power stations right down to small units the size of conventional boiler for use in single family dwellings where they are known as micro CHP. However systems are most typically medium scale for use in industrial buildings such as factories or public buildings like schools or hospitals, where they supply all the electricity and heat demands of the building they are situated in.